Position locator for an adjustable seat supporting assembly

ABSTRACT

A position locator for an adjustable seat supporting assembly includes a guide rail over which a seat supporting channel is movable. Structure is provided on the channel to function with a locator plate formed with the guide rail so that the seat channel is adjustable between a plurality of different positions. Structure is also provided that positively locates front and rear positions for the seat supporting channel. This structure is actuated by a device which permits one to move the seat directly to either the front or the rear position and then to lock the seat in such a position. With the position locator, one driver of a vehicle containing the seat may move the seat to the rear position and another driver may move the seat to the front position.

United States Patent Cazabon et al.

[ 51 June 27, 1972 [54] POSITION LOCATOR FOR AN ADJUSTABLE SEATSUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 13,033 5/1914GreatBritain ..297/3li 566,665 11/1958 Canada ..248/430 [72] Inventors:Dennis C. Cazabon, Grosse Pointe; John R. Dunbar, Dearborn, both ofMich. Primary Examiner-Marion Parsons, Jr [73] Assign: Ford Motor p yDearbom, Mich- Attorney-John R. Faulkner and William E. Johnson [22]Filed: March 1, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT PP 120,025 A position locator for anadjustable seat supporting assembly includes a guide rail over which aseat supporting channel is 52 us. Cl ..24s/429 mvable- Structure isPwvided the channel function "B60" og with a locator plate formed withthe guide rail so that the seat [58] Field of Sear h 148/393, 424, 420,429, 430; channel is adjustable between a plurality of differentpositions. 296/65; 297/3 1 l, 340, 344 Structure is also provided thatpositively locates front and rear positions for the seat supportingchannel. This structure is ac- RJCI'CIICBS Cited tuated by a devicewhich permits one to move the seat directly UNITED STATES PATENTS toeither the front or the rear pos t on and then to loclr the seat in sucha position. With the position locator, one driver of a 1,987,431 l/ 1935Browne ....248/430 vehicle containing the seat may move the seat to therear posi- 3,013,763 12/1961 weberman tion and another driver may movethe seat to the front posi- 3,044,829 7/1962 Dolgorukov ,...297/344 i3,076,629 2/1963 Henry-Biadaud. ....248/424 3,278,223 /1966 Panhard..248/430 10 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 3 c2 Z6 Z2 2 6 i: 28: 2 I 38 4J 466- r 6 I: 7480 38 w as 1 l 9 1| Q 1 w, .[l

PATEHTEDJH::27 1912 3,672,625

SHEET 10F 3 FIG.6

lrtrlllllllllllv INVENTORS ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJUW m2 SHEET 30F 3 A m PINVENTORS 00w; 6. 042 450 BY JO/V/V 1? pun/5AA 2.? law m2 ATTORNEYSPOSITION LOCATOR FOR AN ADJUSTABLE SEAT SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION A drivers seat or a front seat of a motor vehicle isgenerally adjustable to a number of positions. The most common type ofvehicle seat structure permits movement of the seat from a rear.position along an axis to a front position. Also the common type of aseat structure provides a device thereon which locks the seat in any oneof a number of different positions along its axis of movement.

In most cases, a motor vehicle owned by a family is operated by severalmembers of the family such as the husband and the wife. Generally, thehusband is taller and operates the vehicle with the seat positionednear'one of its rear positions. On the other hand, the wife, who isgenerally shorter then the husband, operates the vehicle with the seatpositioned near one of its front positions.

The seat structure generally provided in todays motor vehicle permitsadjustment of the seat along an axis. Thus, the husband may move thevehicle seat to one of its rear positions and the wife may move the seatto one of its front positions. However, upon each change in position ofthe vehicle seat, the exact desired position for the husband or wifemust be sought for. In other words, if the wife enters the vehicle whenthe seat is in a rear position, the wife will slide the seat forward. Bya hunt and seek process, the wife will adjust the seat until she onceagain finds that position which is most comfortable for her.

This invention is directed to a structure which is employed with anadjustable seat supporting mechanism of the type above described. Themain purpose of the structure of this invention is to provide positivelylocated front and rear positions which may be used by two differentoperators of the same motor vehicle. With the inventive structure, thevehicle seat may be rapidly adjusted from one position to another with aminimum of effort. The vehicle operator also will be assured ofachieving a preselected seat position each time the structure isemployed. The inventive structure is so designed that a seat associatedtherewith also may be moved to positions other than the front and therear positions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a position locatorfor an adjustable seat supporting assembly and, more particularly, to aposition locator for an adjustable seat supporting assembly of a motorvehicle in which the seat may be moved between two preselected positionsand may be locked in such preselected positions.

The position locator for an adjustable seat supporting as sembly formedin accordance with the teachings of this invention includes a guide railand structure for supporting the guide rail in a position so that a seatsupporting channel may move therealong. The seat supporting channelsupports a vehicle seat in which an operator of the motor vehicle isseated. A position location plate is supported by the supportingstructure adjacent the guide raiLThis position location plate has aplurality of location positions thereon spaced equally along its length.A locator pin device is provided for association with a selected one ofthe location positions of the locator plate.

A shaft, rotatably supported on the support structure, extends along thelength of the guide rail. A plurality of spacing blocks are aligned in asingle row along the length of the shaft. These blocks are spaced apartfrom one another by distances approximating the spacing of the locationpositions of the locator plate.

A pair of locator members are received on the shaft. These members areformed so as to have several features. The members have a thickness lessthan the dimension of the space between adjacent ones of the spacingblocks of the shaft so that the members are positionable betweenadjacent ones of the spacing blocks. The members also have a centralopening therethrough of a diameter slightly larger than the diameter ofthe shaft. Each of the members also has a secondary opening connected toits central opening. The secondary openings are of suflicient size topermit movement of the spacing blocks therethrough thus permitting theshifting of the members along the length of the shaft when the :shaftsspacing blocks are aligned with the secondary openings.

Each member also has a projecting portion which extends to a position injuxtaposition with a portion of the position locating plate having thelocation positions thereon. The positioning of the projecting portionwith respect to the position location plate acts to retain the locatormembers in a fixed attitude with respect to the location plate eventhough the shaft is rotated in the central opening thereof. Theprojecting portion of each member also directs the locator pin deviceinto association with a selected one of the locator positions of thelocator plate to lock the scat channel in a fixed position.

The secondary openings of the locator members are not aligned with oneanother when the members are on the shaft. This misalignment requiresthe shaft to be moved to one angular attitude to permit movement of onelocator member therealong and requires movement of the shaft to anotherangular attitude to permit movement of the other locator membertherealong. Springs are provided for biasing the locator members towardone another to a central position along the length of the shaft.

Mounting structure is provided which. is fixed to and movable with theseat supporting channel. The mounting structure movably mounts thelocator pin device. The pin device is locatable in an advanced positionwherein the pin is associated with one of the location positions of thelocator plate to position the seat supporting channel in a selectedposition-The pin is movable on the mounting structure from the advancedposition to a retracted position. In the retracted position, the pin iswithdrawn from a locator position but the pin is in juxtaposition withthe locator plate whereby the pin can contact the projecting portion ofeither of the locator members. When the pin is brought into engagementwith one. of the members, the engaged member may be moved along theshaft if the shaft is rotated to a position so that the spacing blocksthereof are aligned with the secondary opening of the engaged member.Thus, an engaged on of the locator members may be repositioned between adifferent pair of the shafts spacing blocks to direct the pin deviceinto a different one of the location positions of the locator plate.

By using the structure of the invention, each of two vehicle operatorsmay adjust one of the locator members to a position associated with hismost desirable seat position. Thereafter, if the seat is not properlypositioned when he enters the vehicle, he actuates the device and movesthe seat until the locator pin engages the projecting portion of thelocator member. Thereafter, the locator pin is directed into the properlocation position and the seat is properly positioned.

In an alternate form, the invention also includes structure whereby theposition of the vehicle seat may be changed to any one of the locationpositions along the length of the locator plate. In this instance, thelocating pin does not engage either of the location members forautomatic location of the seat supporting channel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation view ofportions of a position locator for an adjustable seat supportingassembly formed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. Theposition locator is shown in a locked position.

FIG. 2 is a view of the position locator of FIG. 1 in an operatedposition permitting adjustment of a seat supporting channel to any of aplurality of seat position locations.

FIG. 3 is a view of the position locator of FIG. 1 in an operatedposition permitting adjustment. of the seat supporting channel betweenselected seat location positions.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the position locator shown in FIG. 1.This view is taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of a portion of the position locator ofFIG. 1. This view shows, in detail, the device for setting locatormembers of the position locator.

FIG. 6 is a cross section view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1. This viewshows, in detail, the mechanism for controlling the movement of the seatsupporting channel.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective views of the two locator members utilizedin conjunction with the position locator.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIIVIENT CONSTRUCTION This invention isdirected to a position locator for an adjustable seat supportingassembly. As seen in the Figures, a seat supporting channel 10 has aseat structure 12 secured thereto by any means known in the art. Inactual construction, a single channel may be provided to support theseat 12 along a central portion thereof. Also, two channels may beemployed for supporting the seat along opposite lateral edges thereof.When two channels are used, only one would have a positionlocator-associated therewith. In the preferred embodiment describedherein, a single seat supporting channel will be described.

As viewed in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5, the seat supporting channel 10 ismovable along an axis directed into and out of the drawing. In FIG. 4,the channel movement would be up and down as viewed in the drawing. Thismovement along a particular axis is employed in a motor vehicle in adirection along an axis toward the steering wheel of the vehicle.Movement of the seat 12 in a reverse direction along the axis causes theseat to be moved in a direction away from the steering wheel. Movementof the seat in the forward direction moves the seat toward the steeringwheel. In most motor vehicles operated by several members of a family,the husband desires the seat to be spaced a substantially greaterdistance away from the steering column than does his wife. The structureto be described herein permits the husband to have a selected rear seatposition and the wife to have a selected forward seat position foroperation of the motor vehicle.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a guide rail 14 is supported by afront leg 16 and a rear leg 18 (FIG. 4) on a base (not shown). The seatsupporting channel 10 is movable along the rail 14 on a selected axis.The bottom portion of the guide rail forms a position locator plate 20which has a plurality of openings 22 therein spaced equally along itslength. These openings define a plurality of location positions alongthe locator plate. A locator pin 24 has a free end 26 designed forreception in a selected, individual one of the openings 22 (FIGS. 1 and4).

A shaft 28 (FIG. 4) is rotatably mounted at opposite ends in the frontleg 16 and the rear leg 18. The shaft has a plurality of spacing blocks30 aligned and supported in a single row along its length. The spacingbetween adjacent ones of these spacing blocks is substantially equal.The blocks have about the same spacing therebetween as the openings 22formed in the position locator plate 20.

A front locator member, generally designated by the numeral 32, and arear locator member, generally designated by the numeral 34, arereceived on the shaft 28 (FIG. 4). The members are individuallyillustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. Each of these members has a thickness lessthen the space between adjacent ones of the spacing blocks 30 formed onthe shaft 28. The members are, therefore, positionable between adjacentones of the spacing blocks. Also, each of the members has a centralopening 36 of a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the shaftso that the shaft is rotatable therein. The front locator member 32 hasa secondary opening 38 while the rear locator member 34 has a secondaryopening 40. As seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, the secondary openings of the twomembers are spaced 180 of arc apart. Both of the secondary openings aredesigned so that they permit movement of the spacing blocks 30 of theshaft therethrough. This construction of the members permits them to bemoved along the shaft individually when the shaft is rotated to such aposition that the spacing blocks therealong are aligned with thesecondary opening of an individual one of the locator members.

The front locator member 32 has a projecting portion 42. The rearlocator member 34 also has a projecting portion 44. The projectingportion 42 of the front locator member has a tapering surface 46 and aguide surface 48. Similarly, the projecting portion 44 of the rearlocator member has a tapering surface 50 and a guide surface 52. As bestunderstood by viewing FIG. 4, when both of the locator members 32 and 34are positioned on the shaft 28 between associated pairs of the spacingblocks 30, the projecting portions of the members are in juxtapositionwith the openings 22 of the position locator plate 20. The guide surface48 of the member 32 is aligned with a front one of the openings 22 ofthe locator plate. The guide surface 52 of the member 34 is aligned witha rear one of the openings 22. The positioning of the projectingportions of the members in juxtaposition with the locator plate servesto hold the members in a fixed angular attitude with respect to theshaft and permits the shaft to be rotated therein.

A front spring 54 is provided in a position encircling the shaft 28. Thefront spring acts between an end plate 56 secured to the shaft and thelocator member 32. The spring applies a biasing force on the memberwhich tends to move the member along the shaft in a direction toward acentral portion of the shaft. Similarly, a rear spring 58 is providedwhich encircles the shaft. This rear spring acts between the rear leg 18and the rear locator member 34 in order to apply a biasing force to therear member. This biasing force causes movement of the rear member alongthe shaft toward a central portion of the shaft. A lock washer 60secures the shaft in position for rotative movement in its supportedposition between the legs 16 and 18.

A mounting bracket 62 (FIGS. 1 to 3) has a pair of projecting fingers 64and 66. The mounting bracket is secured by suitable fasteners (notshown) to the seat supporting channel 10 and is movable therewith.

An operating lever 68 has its midportion pivotably secured by a pivotpin 70 to the projecting finger 64 of the mounting bracket 62. An end 72of the operating lever 68 supports a pin 74 thereon. The pin 74 isreciprocal in a first guide slot 76 formed in the locator pin 24. An end78 of the locator pin 24 remote from the free end 26 thereof has anopening therein which is received about the pivot pin 70 such that thelocator plate 24 is pivotable.

A second lever 80 has one end 82 thereof pivotably attached to anintermediate portion of the operating lever 68 by means of a pivot pin84. An intermediate portion of the second lever 80 is pivotably securedby means of a pivot pin 86 to the second projecting finger 66 of themounting bracket 62. The other end 88 of the lever 80 is secured bymeans of a pin 90 to a second guide slot 92 formed in the locator pin24. A spring 94 has one end thereof secured to a mounting post 96 formedon the seat supporting channel 10 and the other end thereof secured toan opening 98 formed on the locator pin. This spring bias the locatorpin to a normal position with its free end 26 received in one of theopenings 22 of the locator plate 20.

The operating lever 68 is movable from its normal position (FIG. 1)upwardly which causes movement of the various elements of the mechanismto a position shown in FIG. 2. In this position the locator pin ismovable along the length of the locator plate without having its freeend 26 brought into engagement with either the projecting portion 42 or44 of the locator members 32 and 34, respectively. The operating lever68 is also movable downwardly to a position wherein the free end 26 ofthe locator pin 24 is retracted from the opening 22 of the locator plate20 only a slight distance (FIG. 3). When in this condition, movement ofthe locator pin along the length of the locator plate will bring itsfree end 26 into engagement with the projecting portion of one or theother of the two locator members.

OPERATION When a vehicle having the seat assembly formed in accordancewith the teachings of this invention is new, the locator members 32 and34 would generally be in a position such as illustrated in phantom inFIG. 4. A short driver would adjust the front locator member 32 to aproper setting for him whereas a tall driver would adjust the rearlocator member 34 to a proper portion for him. The adjustment of thelocator members is accomplished in the following manner.

A knob 100, secured to the shaft 28, is rotated to the left as viewed inFIG. 5 till the leading most spacing block 30 on the shaft comes intocontact with one of a pair of stop members 102-102 which are secured tothe front leg 16. Bringing of the shaft to this position aligns thespacing blocks 30 therealong with the secondary opening 38 of the frontlocator member 32.

Once the knob rotates the shaft 28 to such an aligned position, theperson desiring to adjust the seat supporting channel depresses thelever 68 (FIG. 3). Downward movement of the operating lever 68 causesits free end 72 to be moved upwardly to the top of the first guide slot76 of the pin 24. Such movement causes the second lever 80 to remain ina position that its end 88 stays in the bottom of the second guide slot92 of the locator pin. The travel of the free end 72 of the operatinglever 68 and the end 88 of the second lever 80 to opposite ends of thetwo guide slots causes the retraction of the free end 26 of the locatorpin from one of the openings 22 of the locator plate 20. However, theretraction of the free end is limited so that the path of travel of thefree end will bring it into contact with the guide surface 48 of theprojecting portion 42 of the locator member 32.

With the knob 100 rotated to an aligned position for resetting thelocator member 32, the spring 54 acts on the locator member 32 to biasit toward a central position on the shaft 28. Thus, the person operatingthe device with the operating lever 68 depressed is able to move thelocator pin 24 to a new desired position wherein the free end 26 thereofis aligned with a selected opening 22 in the locator plate 20. When thisnew position is achieved, the spring 54 is acting on the locator member32 to bring its guide surface 48 into contact with the free end 26 ofthe locator pin. This action brings the member between an adjacent,selected pair of the spacing blocks 30 of the shaft. When the newdesired position is achieved, the locator pin is associated with aselected opening of the locator plate and the locator member ispositioned between a new pair of spacing blocks. At this time, the shaft28 is returned to its normal position by rotating the knob 100. Thisaction locks the locator member between the blocks. Thereafter, wheneverthe seat is returned to that selected position, the guide surface 48 ofthe front locator member 32 will engage and direct the free end 26 ofthe pin into the proper opening 22 of the locator plate.

The guide member 34 may be similarly adjusted. However, when adjustingthis member it is necessary to rotate the knob 100 to the right asviewed in FIG. 5 in order to align the spacing blocks of the shaft withthe secondary opening 40 of the rear locator member 34. Once the rearlocator member has been properly positioned, it can always be employedfor relocating this rear position.

As described to this point, the seat locator device of this inventionmay be employed so that a tall person may adjust the rear locator memberand a short person may adjust the front locator member. Once the locatormembers are adjusted, the movement between the two positions isaccomplished by depressing the operating lever 68 as seen in FIG. 3 inorder to withdraw the free end 26 of the locator pin 24 from anassociated opening 22 of the locator plate 20. Once withdrawn, the seatchannel 10 may be moved. This action moves the free end of the pin toengage the projecting portion of the other locator member. Once theother locator member is engaged the operating lever 68 is released andthe spring 94 acts to draw the free end of the pin into the newlyselected opening 22. This properly relocates the seat to the new desiredposition.

It sometimes occurs that the vehicle is driven by a person who cannotcomfortably operate the vehicle with the seat in either the front or therear position or in a position intermediate thereof. In such a case, itis necessary to move the seat to a position either in front or behindthe front or rear locator members respectively. Such a movement isaccomplished with the structure of this invention as follows.

If the seat is to be adjusted to an extreme front or rear position, theoperating lever 68 is moved upwardly as viewed in FIG. 2. Upwardmovement of the operating lever causes the free end 72 and the pin 74thereon to be moved to the bottom of the first guide slot 76 of thelocator pin 24. Similarly, this upward movement of the operating lever68 causes the free end 88 of the second lever and its associated pin 90to be moved to the top of the second guide slot 92 of the locator pin24. When the two levers achieve these conditions, the free end 26 of thelocator pin 24 is retracted a substantial distance from the locatorplate 20. The free end 26 is retracted sufficiently so that it passes bythe projecting portions of the locator members and is not therebyrestricted to movement between the two members. Thus, the seat may beadjusted to any position outside of those positions between the locatormembers. When a person who has one of the locator members adjusted to afixed position then uses the vehicle, this person depresses theoperating lever 68 as viewed in FIG. 3 and moves the seat toward itsdesired locator member. The free end 26 of the locator pin 24 which hasgone beyond its normal position, will engage either the tapering surface46 or the tapering surface 50 of the locator members 32 or 34 on itsmovement to the desired locator member. The tapering surface cams thepin downwardly in order to permit the pin to pass over the projectingportion of the engaged locator member and once again achieve a positionbetween the members.

There has been disclosed herein a locating mechanism for an adjustableseat assembly. In view of the teachings of this specification, manymodifications of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in theart. It is intended that all such modifications which fall within thetrue spirit and scope of this invention be included within the scope ofthe appended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A position locator for an adjustable seat supporting assembly whichcomprises:

a seat supporting channel;

a guide rail;

support means for supporting said guide rail in a position such thatsaid seat supporting channel may move therealong;

a position location plate supported by said supporting means adjacentsaid guide rail, said plate having a plurality of location positionsthereon equally spaced along its length;

a locator pin means for association with a selected one of said locationpositions of said locator plate;

a shaft rotatably supported on said support means in such a positionthat said shaft extends in its length dimension along the length of saidguide rail;

a plurality of spacing blocks aligned and supported in a sin gle rowalong the length of said shaft, sai'd spacing blocks being spaced fromone another by substantially equal distances and being aligned with saidlocation positions of said locator plate;

a pair of locator members received on said shaft, each of said membershaving (1) a thickness less than said space between adjacent ones ofsaid spacing blocks so that said members are positionable betweenassociated pairs of said blocks, (2) a central opening therethrough of adiameter slightly larger than the diameter of said shaft, (3) asecondary opening connected to said central opening, said secondaryopening being of sufficient size to permit movement of said spacingblocks therethrough thus permitting the shifting of said members alongthe length of said shaft when said blocks are aligned with saidsecondary openings thereof, and (4) a projecting portion extending to aposition in juxtaposition with a portion of said position location platehaving said location positions thereon, said positioning of saidprojecting portion with respect to said position location plate actingto retain said locator member in a fixed attitude with respect to saidlocation plate even though said shaft is rotated in said central openingthereof, said projecting portion also directing said pin means intoassociation with a selected one of said locator positions of saidlocator plate with which said projecting portion is in juxtaposition,said secondary openings of said locator members not being aligned withone another when said members are on said shaft whereby said shaft hasto be in one angular attitude to permit movement of one locator membertherealong, and whereby said shaft has to be in a different angularattitude to permit movement of the other locator member therealong;

spring means for biasing said locator members toward one another to acentral position along the length of said shaft; and

mounting means fixed to and movable with said seat supporting channel,said mounting means for movably mounting said locator pin means formovement between an advanced position wherein said pin means isassociated with one of said location positions of said locator platethereby to position said seat supporting channel in a selected position,and a retracted position wherein said pin means is in a positionwithdrawn from said association but in juxtaposition with said platewhereby said pin means can be brought into engagement with saidprojecting portion of either of said locator members, said pin meansbeing able to move an engaged one of said members along said shaftagainst the bias of spring means if said shaft is rotated to such aposition that said spacing blocks thereof are aligned with saidsecondary opening of said engaged locator member whereby said locatormember may be repositioned between a different pair of said spacingblocks to direct said pin means into a different one of said locationpositions of said locator plate.

2. The position locator as defined in claim 1 wherein: said positionlocator plate is formed as a portion of said guide rail; wherein saidlocation positions of said locator plate are openings formed in saidplate; and wherein said pin means has a free end portion for receptionin a selected one of said opening of said locator plate to position saidseat supporting chan nel.

3. The position locator as defined in claim 2 wherein: said mountingmeans also is for movably mounting said locator pin means for movementto a second retracted position wherein said pin means is withdrawn fromsaid openings of said locator plate to a position spaced sufficientlyfrom said locator plate that said pin means will not engage saidprojecting positions of said locator members when said pin means ismoved along the length of said shaft.

4. The position locator as defined in claim 3 wherein: said pin means isa plate member having said free end portion for reception in one of saidopenings of said locator plate; wherein said mounting means includessupport structure to which said plate member is secured for pivotablemovement of its said free end; and wherein said mounting means alsoincludes lever means, in part secured to said plate member and in partsecured to said support structure, for moving said free end of saidplate member between its advanced position and its retracted positions.

5. The position locator as defined in claim 4 wherein: a spring issecured at one end to a portion of said seat supporting channel and atits other end to a portion of said plate member to bias said platemember to its advanced position wherein said free end thereof isreceived in one of said openings of said locator plate,

6. The position locator as defined in claim 5 wherein: said secondaryopenings in each of said locator members are spaced 180 of are away fromone another.

7. The position locator of claim 6 wherein: stop means are provided onsaid guide rail supporting means for engaging an end one of said spacingblocks of said shafts to limit the angular displacement of said shaft tosuch positions whereat said spacing blocks thereon are aligned with oneof said secondary openings of said locator members.

8. A position locator for a seat structure which is adjustable along anaxis to one of several positions, said locator and adjustable seatstructure comprising:

a guide rail including a portion thereof forming a locator plate havinga plurality of openings equally spaced along its length;

a pair of support legs mounting said guide rail and locator plate alongan axis;

a seat supporting channel mounted for movement on said guide rail;

a shaft having a plurality of spacing blocks thereon aligned in a singlerow along a portion of its length, said blocks being spaced from oneanother by substantially equal distances equal to the spacing of saidopenings of said locator plate;

means for rotatably mounting said shaft on said support legs with saidspacing blocks of said shaft being positioned between said support legsand in alignment with said openings of said locator plate;

stop members secured to one of said support legs adjacent an end one ofsaid spacing blocks of said shaft, each stop member engaging the saidone spacing block when said shaft is rotated of arc in a particulardirection from a normal shaft position thereby to control angulardisplacement of the shaft to selected amounts;

a locator pin having a free end sized to be received in a selected oneof said openings of said locator plate;

a pair of locator members received on said shaft, each of said membershaving (1) a thickness less than the space between adjacent ones of saidspacing blocks so that said members are positionable between associatedones of said spacing blocks, (2) a central opening therethrough of adiameter slightly larger than the diameter of said shaft, (3) asecondary opening connected to said central opening, said secondaryopening being of sufficient size to permit movement of said spacingblocks therethrough thus permitting the shifting of said members alongthe length of said shaft when saidblocks are aligned with said secondaryopening thereof, and (4) a projecting portion extending to a position injuxtaposition with a portion of said position locating plate having saidopenings therein, said positioning of said projecting portion withrespect to said position locating plate acting-to retain said locatormember in a fixed attitude with respect to said locator plate eventhough said shaft is rotated in said central opening thereof, saidprojecting portion also directing said locator pin into association witha selected one of said openings of said locator plate with which saidprojecting portion is in juxtaposition, said secondary opening of saidmember being spaced of are from one another;

a pair of springs, each of said springs being placed in a positionencircling said shaft between one of said support legs and one of saidlocator members for biasing said members to a normal position toward thecenter of the length of said shaft; and

mounting means secured to said seat supporting channel for pivotablymounting said locator pin so that said free end thereof is movable froman advanced position within one of said openings of said locator plateto either one of two retracted positions wherein said free end eitherengages or misses said projecting portion of said locator member, saidpin being capable of moving an engaged one of said locator members alongsaid shaft when said spacing blocks of said shafi are aligned with saidsecondary opensupport structure, for moving said free end of saidlocator pin between its advanced position and its retracted position.

10. The position locator as defined in claim 9 wherein: a spring issecured at one end to a portion of said seat supporting channel and atits other end to a portion of said locator pin to bias said locator toits advanced position wherein said free end thereof is received in oneof said openings of said locator plate.

1. A position locator for an adjustable seat supporting assembly whichcomprises: a seat supporting channel; a guide rail; support means forsupporting said guide rail in a position such that said seat supportingchannel may move therealong; a position location plate supported by saidsupporting means adjacent said guide rail, said plate having a pluralityof location positions thereon equally spaced along its length; a locatorpin means for association with a selected one of said location positionsof said locator plate; a shaft rotatably supported on said support meansin such a position that said shaft extends in its length dimension alongthe length of said guide rail; a plurality of spacing blocks aligned andsupported in a single row along the length of said shaft, said spacingblocks being spaced from one another by substantially equal distancesand being aligned with said location positions of said locator plate; apair of locator members received on said shaft, each of said membershaving (1) a thickness less than said space between adjacent ones ofsaid spacing blocks so that said members are positionable betweenassociated pairs of said blocks, (2) a central opening therethrough of adiameter slightly larger than the diameter of said shaft, (3) asecondary opening connected to said central opening, said secondaryopening being of sufficient size to permit movement of said spacingblocks therethrough thus permitting the shifting of said members alongthe length of said shaft when said blocks are aligned with saidsecondary openings thereof, and (4) a projecting portion extending to aposition in juxtaposition with a portion of said position location platehaving said location positions thereon, said positioning of saidprojecting portion with respect to said position location plate actingto retain said locator member in a fixed attitude with respect to saidlocation plate even though said shaft is rotated in said central openingthereof, said projecting portion also directing said pin means intoassociation with a selected one of said locator positions of saidlocator plate with which said projecting portion is in juxtaposition,said secondary openings of said locator members not being aligned withone another when said members are on said shaft whereby said shaft hasto be in one angular attitude to permit movement of one locator membertherealong, and whereby said shaft has to be in a different angularattitude to permit movement of the other locator member therealong;spring means for biasing said locator members toward one another to acentral position along the length of said shaft; and mounting meansfixed to and movable with said seat supporting channel, said mountingmeans for movably mounting said locator pin means for movement betweenan advanced position wherein said pin means is associated with one ofsaid location positions of said locator plate thereby to position saidseat supporting channel in a selected position, and a retracted positionwherein said pin means is in a position withdrawn from said associationbut in juxtaposition with said plate whereby said pin means can bebrought into engagement with said projecting portion of either of saidlocator members, said pin means being able to move an engaged one ofsaid members along said shaft against the bias of spring means if saidshaft is rotated to such a position that Said spacing blocks thereof arealigned with said secondary opening of said engaged locator memberwhereby said locator member may be repositioned between a different pairof said spacing blocks to direct said pin means into a different one ofsaid location positions of said locator plate.
 2. The position locatoras defined in claim 1 wherein: said position locator plate is formed asa portion of said guide rail; wherein said location positions of saidlocator plate are openings formed in said plate; and wherein said pinmeans has a free end portion for reception in a selected one of saidopening of said locator plate to position said seat supporting channel.3. The position locator as defined in claim 2 wherein: said mountingmeans also is for movably mounting said locator pin means for movementto a second retracted position wherein said pin means is withdrawn fromsaid openings of said locator plate to a position spaced sufficientlyfrom said locator plate that said pin means will not engage saidprojecting positions of said locator members when said pin means ismoved along the length of said shaft.
 4. The position locator as definedin claim 3 wherein: said pin means is a plate member having said freeend portion for reception in one of said openings of said locator plate;wherein said mounting means includes support structure to which saidplate member is secured for pivotable movement of its said free end; andwherein said mounting means also includes lever means, in part securedto said plate member and in part secured to said support structure, formoving said free end of said plate member between its advanced positionand its retracted positions.
 5. The position locator as defined in claim4 wherein: a spring is secured at one end to a portion of said seatsupporting channel and at its other end to a portion of said platemember to bias said plate member to its advanced position wherein saidfree end thereof is received in one of said openings of said locatorplate.
 6. The position locator as defined in claim 5 wherein: saidsecondary openings in each of said locator members are spaced 180* ofarc away from one another.
 7. The position locator of claim 6 wherein:stop means are provided on said guide rail supporting means for engagingan end one of said spacing blocks of said shafts to limit the angulardisplacement of said shaft to such positions whereat said spacing blocksthereon are aligned with one of said secondary openings of said locatormembers.
 8. A position locator for a seat structure which is adjustablealong an axis to one of several positions, said locator and adjustableseat structure comprising: a guide rail including a portion thereofforming a locator plate having a plurality of openings equally spacedalong its length; a pair of support legs mounting said guide rail andlocator plate along an axis; a seat supporting channel mounted formovement on said guide rail; a shaft having a plurality of spacingblocks thereon aligned in a single row along a portion of its length,said blocks being spaced from one another by substantially equaldistances equal to the spacing of said openings of said locator plate;means for rotatably mounting said shaft on said support legs with saidspacing blocks of said shaft being positioned between said support legsand in alignment with said openings of said locator plate; stop memberssecured to one of said support legs adjacent an end one of said spacingblocks of said shaft, each stop member engaging the said one spacingblock when said shaft is rotated 90* of arc in a particular directionfrom a normal shaft position thereby to control angular displacement ofthe shaft to selected amounts; a locator pin having a free end sized tobe received in a selected one of said openings of said locator plate; apair of locator members received on said shaft, each of said membershaving (1) a thickness less than the space between Adjacent ones of saidspacing blocks so that said members are positionable between associatedones of said spacing blocks, (2) a central opening therethrough of adiameter slightly larger than the diameter of said shaft, (3) asecondary opening connected to said central opening, said secondaryopening being of sufficient size to permit movement of said spacingblocks therethrough thus permitting the shifting of said members alongthe length of said shaft when said blocks are aligned with saidsecondary opening thereof, and (4) a projecting portion extending to aposition in juxtaposition with a portion of said position locating platehaving said openings therein, said positioning of said projectingportion with respect to said position locating plate acting to retainsaid locator member in a fixed attitude with respect to said locatorplate even though said shaft is rotated in said central opening thereof,said projecting portion also directing said locator pin into associationwith a selected one of said openings of said locator plate with whichsaid projecting portion is in juxtaposition, said secondary opening ofsaid member being spaced 180* of arc from one another; a pair ofsprings, each of said springs being placed in a position encircling saidshaft between one of said support legs and one of said locator membersfor biasing said members to a normal position toward the center of thelength of said shaft; and mounting means secured to said seat supportingchannel for pivotably mounting said locator pin so that said free endthereof is movable from an advanced position within one of said openingsof said locator plate to either one of two retracted positions whereinsaid free end either engages or misses said projecting portion of saidlocator member, said pin being capable of moving an engaged one of saidlocator members along said shaft when said spacing blocks of said shaftare aligned with said secondary opening of said engaged member wherebysaid engaged locator member may be repositioned between a differentassociated pair of said spacing blocks to direct said locator pin into adifferent one of said openings of said locator plate.
 9. The positionlocator as defined in claim 8 wherein: said mounting means includessupport structure to which said locator pin is secured for pivotablemovement of its said free end; and wherein said mounting means alsoincludes lever means, in part secured to said locator pin and in partsecured to said support structure, for moving said free end of saidlocator pin between its advanced position and its retracted position.10. The position locator as defined in claim 9 wherein: a spring issecured at one end to a portion of said seat supporting channel and atits other end to a portion of said locator pin to bias said locator toits advanced position wherein said free end thereof is received in oneof said openings of said locator plate.